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#12783 12/14/00 03:49 PM
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It has been said - rightly or wrongly, I know not - that over 75% of quotations used in the English language are from either the bible or Shakespeare.

For what it's worth, I've heard (from that same core 82.7% of stats) that the second-most quoted author (not committee as in the KJV) in English is none other than Rudyard Kipling. Which surprised me (even though I'm a huge Kipling fan) because I'd have thought Pope or Wilde would have nipped in. But no, it was old flashes-of-brilliance-and-vulgarity-under-a-palm-tree hisself.


#12784 12/14/00 04:15 PM
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In reply to:

the wrong rhyme scheme


There are several allowable rhyme schemes for sonnets, and you find them in verse anthologies etc. Some poets used one scheme exclusively, others used more than one. They are: abab(bis)cdcdcd, abab(bis)cdcdee, abba(bis)cdcdcd, abba(bis)cdcdee.


#12785 12/14/00 08:40 PM
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There are several allowable rhyme schemes for sonnets... They are: abab(bis)cdcdcd, abab(bis)cdcdee, abba(bis)cdcdcd, abba(bis)cdcdee.

Yes, I still like the rhyming lyrics on my ABBA CD's, too, even though my kids don't think the music's very cool.


#12786 12/14/00 09:13 PM
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Marty said Yes, I still like the rhyming lyrics on my ABBA CD's, too, even though my kids don't think the music's very cool.

Damn, you beat me to it!




The idiot also known as Capfka ...
#12787 12/15/00 06:08 PM
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In reply to:

ABBA CDs


What with you, Cap Kiwi, TEd et al, I feel like Gracie Allen, whose principal purpose in life was to feed lines to George Burns.


#12788 12/15/00 06:28 PM
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BYB bemoaned: What with you, Cap Kiwi, TEd et al, I feel like Gracie Allen, whose principal purpose in life was to feed lines to George Burns.

And do you look like her? I gave up cigars some years ago, and I think that cigars represented my only physiognomical relationship with GB. Now GBS is a different story, of course.



The idiot also known as Capfka ...
#12789 12/15/00 08:25 PM
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Bob says: feed lines to George Burns.

I thought it was the other way around. George would say something relatively innocuous and Gracie would twist it into the most outrageous ramble that would leave poor George's head spinning in more directions than there were.


#12790 12/16/00 12:32 AM
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I think that George Burns' type of humour was peculiarly American. He was quite clever with words, but his jokes tended to be a bit obvious for my liking. Note that this is not a criticism of things American - just a cultural difference.



The idiot also known as Capfka ...
#12791 12/16/00 02:04 AM
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Ah but Bob. George Burns always avowed that Gracie was the brains of the two. She set the jokes up for him, her timing was impeccable and she saved him when he fell flat. The straight-man has the hardest part to play.

Personal opinion flash...I think that was one of the world's greatest love affairs. Till the day he died, George Burns said that Gracie was the light and the love of his life even though she had passed so many years before him. (now, don't all you boys groan at the mushy women stuff!)



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